Human resources strategies include efforts such as improving training for customer service personnel, hiring more tech-savvy employees and seeking managers who can increase productivity. However, if those strategies come from inside the HR department instead of from your own vision for your business, they may not take you where you want your company to go. A strong vision, clearly communicated, guides HR in choosing which strategies to pursue and when to pursue them.

Departmental Emphasis

A company vision guides the thinking of all managers about how to position the business for the future. For example, if part of the vision is for a company that captures a majority of market share, HR will focus on recruiting marketing personnel. If that vision is lacking, HR simply may fill vacancies with no review of whether those vacancies should be filled. It may seek applicants for positions that are becoming obsolete, such as a production manager for a company that is becoming a service provider rather than a manufacturer.

Communications

A vision includes a view of growth through employee and manager feedback. For example, one vision might embrace mobile devices as a way of helping employees get questions answered by management. If this vision is not fully developed and communicated, HR may institute policies prohibiting mobile devices at work, thus thwarting management's desire to utilize available technology to make the workplace more efficient.

Training

A vision states what specific customer problems the company's products or services will solve and how well it will solve them. A vision for a software company, for example, could be that the company will provide software with fewer user problems than competitors. Failure to state this vision could result in an HR department that focuses on training customer service personnel to explain the reason for glitches and to offer customers discounts when they experience difficulties. Had the vision been clearly formulated, HR would have focused on training technical personnel to eliminate the software problems.

Retention

HR tends to implement strategies to retain employees in order to reduce hiring and training costs. However, a solid company vision might lead a company toward a completely mobile workforce that contributes via computers, virtual meetings and teleconferences. If HR is unaware of this vision, it might retain employees based on tenure rather than on a willingness to work remotely, resulting in a packed office the business owner never wanted.

About the Author

Kevin Johnston writes for Ameriprise Financial, the Rutgers University MBA Program and Evan Carmichael. He has written about business, marketing, finance, sales and investing for publications such as "The New York Daily News," "Business Age" and "Nation's Business." He is an instructional designer with credits for companies such as ADP, Standard and Poor's and Bank of America.